Month: October 2020

Is Tinder Testing Background Checks?

Posted on October 1, 2020

Tinder logo in mazeGRATISDATINGTIPS.NL – Sep 30 – Last year's investigation by ProPublica revealed that registered sex offenders were active on dating apps, including Tinder. A Match Group spokesperson said the company cannot perform background checks because the system is not only expensive but also unreliable. Apparently Match has now found a solution. It is now possible to get banned from Tinder based on data from Backgroundchecks.com. There are indications that Tinder has recently started using the API (inter-system communication) from backgroundchecks.com, which could allow an automatic background check.

by Door Michael
See full article at GratisDatingTips.nl

Mark Brooks: Match has been using background checks for years, but is just not public about it.  They started in April 2011. See news on OPW.  I think background checks have come of age now (more up to date databases), and RealMe (a Courtland Brooks client) has an evolved solution that melds in reputation and delivers a suitable experience for the dating context.  

See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Tinder

Muzmatch Expands Ethnicity Filters

Posted on October 1, 2020

Muzmatch ethnicity filterSALAAM GATEWAY – Sep 29 – In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, several dating and matrimonial platforms pledged to remove their ethnicity filters in a bid to fight discrimination.One of them is Indian matrimony website Shaadi.com. The company ditched its skin tone filter in June 2020. The site previously asked users to declare the colour of their skin using options such as "fair", "wheatish", and "dark". Other companies have defended their continued use of ethnicity filters, such as Match. Muzmatch removed all its colour-focused groups, such as Black/African and White/Caucasian and added choices such as European or West African. According to Muzmatch, ~52% of matches on the app are between members of different ethnicities. UAE-based Muslim matchmaking app Veil say that the app's twelve ethnicity/nationality search list options are based on Veil's user feedback and common search data. The company does not plan on making any changes to those areas.

by Heba Hashem
See full article at Salaam Gateway

See the top news on Match.com                    See the top news on Muzmatch
See the top news on Shaadi                          See the top news on Veil

Indian Matchmakers Explain Why Young Indians Still Go for Arranged Marriages

Posted on October 1, 2020

Indian matrimony2020VICE – Oct 30 – In Indian culture, parents tend to feel obliged to find suitors for their children. Some seek suitable matches within extended families, while others spread the word in their professional networks. Many reach out to professional matchmakers. A recent survey found that 60% of young Indians accept arranged marriages, and 81% are happy to stay in a joint family after marriage. Matchmakers do not find this recent interest unusual. Almost all matchmakers swear by a myth that divorces are less in arranged marriages. Data shows that only one in a thousand marriages end in divorce in India, a country of 1.3B people. "The reason why there are fewer divorces is because of social pressure, not because they're happier," said Dr Dayal Mirchandani, a psychiatrist based in the western Indian city of Pune, who specialises in marriage counselling. "Most of the time, the girls' families have spent a huge amount on weddings, and often tell their daughters they will not take them back."

by Pallavi Pundir
See full article at Vice